Monday, August 31, 2015

Meredith Corporation has launched Sweat TV, an online workout portal that features more than 200 exercise videos. Many of the videos come through Fitness magazine's existing video library, but content is included from Shape.com, FitStar, Grokker and POPSUGAR. According to a release, the workout videos allow users to target each body part, including abs, arms, and thighs; and workout type, including yoga, cardio and post-pregnancy. Each workout is divided into video “playlists” of individual workout moves, so users can jump to and replay specific sections for additional instruction.

“Workout videos are by far one of the most popular reasons consumers visit Fitnessmagazine.com,” says Melissa Inman, general manager of Fitnessmagazine.com and Shape.com. “So we saw building a destination site for workouts as a huge opportunity. Through SweatTV, we’ve curated an extensive library of videos so users can easily find the workout they’re looking for. And with 60 percent of our users accessing the site on mobile and 33 percent of video views taking place on mobile, we made it a priority to optimize the platform on those devices for on-the-go workouts when traveling, at the gym or at home.”

Users can either become members or choose to get a 24-hour free workout experience after seeing a sponsored message.

Before the leaves have even started to turn and as weird foods are unveiled at the CNE, it's suddenly time to consider enrollment in the Magazine and Web Publishing program at Ryerson University's Chang School. There are only a couple of weeks to sign up:

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Western Living magazine has been completely redesigned: taking on a streamlined and refined new logotype as WL, in a somewhat larger format. Readers will see the new look imminently as part of September's annual Designers of the Year issue. on newsstands and in subscribers mail slots at any moment. Concurrent with the redesign is a revamped website and responsive mobile website design. The inch-wider format gives the design more elbow room for its usual lavish photography and takes advantage of what print does so well. Editor-in-chief Anicka Quin, art director Paul Roelofs and publisher Tom Gierasimczuk talk about the redesign in the following video.Western Living is under new ownership, as part of the Yellow Pages group in BC, along with sibling Vancouver magazine, although doubtless the redesign has been in the works for some time before that.

Monday, August 24, 2015

A group of large U.S. magazine publishers won a 5-year-old antitrust case brought by the now bankrupt wholesaler Anderson News LLC. According to a story in WWD, Time Inc, Hearst Corp., American Media Inc. and Rodale Inc. had been sued for $371 million, for banding together to reject its increase in distribution pricing. Further, on appeal, Anderson alleged that the publishers had choked off its supply of magazines and, in retaliation, tried to force its warehouses not to make deliveries to them.

Judge Paul Crotty of the Second Circuit dismissing the antitrust claims and suggested that by trying to persuade big retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and The Kroger Co., to not handle magazines from the publishers' group, Anderson may have been the one open to antitrust action.

“If there were ever an antitrust case of the pot calling the kettle black, this is it,” Crotty said in his judgment.

Anderson had tried to increase prices to publishers by 7% in 2009 but the publishers pushed back, saying they couldn't afford the increases

Anderson then tried to “take advantage” of its controlling position in ProLogix East, a company that delivered magazines to retailers, by refusing to open its warehouse to make deliveries for Anderson News’ competitors, according to court papers. The wholesaler’s threat to stop deliveries was enjoined by a federal court in the District of Delaware, and when Anderson received word of the decision, it chose to go out of business. It filed the lawsuit shortly after it filed for bankruptcy in early 2009.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Richard Rhodes stepping down from editorship of Canadian Art magazine

Richard Rhodes

The editor of Canadian Art magazine, Richard Rhodes, is winding up his role after a 20-year career at the magazine, though he will be carrying on as editor emeritus. He is stepping down December 31, 2015 and the Canadian Art Foundation is commencing a search for his replacement immediately.
Rhodes's departure is one of several staffing changes at the magazine. David Balzer, former associate editor, will be returning next week as deputy editor. Nicholas Brown has been named manager of programming and education.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Canadian Immigrant magazine, in collaboration with sponsor Scotiabank and Fusion Halifax, is presenting Halifax's first annual career, education and settlement fair at the World Trade & Convention Centre. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.on Tuesday, Sept. 8. The fair is built on the success of similar events held in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary in the past 5 years. (More than 1,500 Canadian newcomers attended the 5th annual event in Toronto in June.) The Halifax fair this September will be tailored to the specific needs of immigrants in the province, including its growing numbers of international students and temporary foreign workers.

"Nova Scotia has one of the highest intakes of temporary workers and international students, and our fair will create a place where immigrants of all types can come to learn about immigration, education and careers in the region," says Sanjay Agnihotri, Group Publisher of Canadian Immigrant. "Halifax's history is steeped in immigration to Canada, boasting the famed Pier 21 Canadian Museum of Immigration, and our goal is to ensure that today's new arrivals get the information and inspiration they need to succeed in Canada."

Canadian Immigrant, a division of Metroland Media Group Ltd. has more than 287,000 readers each month through its print publication and website (www.canadianimmigrant.ca).

Six editorial layoffs at Chatelaine because of "a shift in business strategy"

Six people at Chatelaine magazine were laid off yesterday by Rogers Publishing, including three in editorial and three in the art department. Notably, one of those laid off was Sydney Loney, the health director and editor-in-chief of Canadian Health and Lifestyle magazine.The layoffs follow the June appointment of Lianne George as editor-in-chief, replacing Karine Ewart. A spokesperson for Rogers said Chatelaine made the changes in its editorial and creative departments to reflect a shift in the brand’s evolving business strategy, but that the jobs will be filled "at a later date". (Rogers bought Canadian Health & Lifestyle in April 2012 and relaunched it under the editorship of Beth Thompson in 2013. Thompson left about a year later to be replaced by Loney.)Related posts:

Magazine media are being pummelled by a variety of forces, including programmatic advertising, the advance of mobile and content marketing, according to a report on Folio:. There is a massive shift in revenue to businesses such as Facebook and Google (those two total $78 billion in ad revenue in 2014) which, combined is more than the newspaper and magazine industries. The Folio: article drops in on 12 leaders of the industry, talking about their priorities and concerns.

Friday, August 14, 2015

September is the key month for many fashion magazines and Hearst Magazines in the U.S. is hustling them in and around New York with the "Mag Mobile", a travelling newsstand selling copies of Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan and Seventeen and giving away samples of beauty products.

It's combining this with a continuation of a remarkable promotion it started last year -- selling a 9.2-pound "Fashion to Go" package of Hearst magazines.

And, as part of its "September strategy", according to Adweek, Hearst is also using so-called "beacon technology" in partnership with the Barnes & Noble bookstore chain to alert potential readers of Elle to the arrival of the September issue whenever they pass a B & N store. This year's Elle is the biggest ever in its 30 years, promoted with four different covers. Big sister magazine Bazaar has the largest issue in its 148-year history and Marie Claire has its 2nd largest.

"Overall, the fashion group's strong September showing can be linked to luxury brands betting on U.S. consumers. "All of the European luxury markets have significantly increased their spend in America, particularly as the rest of the world is a bit softer and the luxury marketplace in the U.S. is very robust," said [Hearst Magazines president and publishing director Michael] Clinton "The American market is now the growth market."

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Management reorg at St. Joseph media group; Jacqueline Loch jumps over from TVA

Jacqueline Loch

Jacqueline Loch, until now the vice-president and group publisher of English brands at TVA Group (the publishing division of Quebecor Media Inc.) is joining the St. Joseph Communications, Media Group as vice-president content solutions. Her move is but one of the many changes resulting from a major management reorganization at St. Joe's.

Duncan Clark

Duncan Clark, who joined the company in January as vice-president, digital has been named to the job of vice-president strategic development. A company press release said

"In his new role Mr. Clark will lead the organization in working closely with St. Joseph Media’s brand and communication partners to develop measurable solutions that are platform agnostic, building community engagement through digital, social media, video, event and print channels strategically aligned with clearly defined client goals and objectives."

Douglas Kelly, who has been managing director of Strategic Content Labs since January 2014 has been promoted to senior vice-president strategic content labs. Responsibility for all production and customer service in digital and print production is being brought together under one group reporting to Darlene Storey, vice president production and consumer marketing.St. Joseph has been moving towards a total integration of all of its branded print, digital and social media editorial and sales account management. The upshot is that FASHION Magazine, Men’s FASHION, Weddingbells, Mariage Québec, Glow, Pure and Canadian Family’s digital and print platforms will all report toLilia Lozinski, senior vice president and group publisher, women’s brands. Ken Hunt, publisher of Toronto Life.will be responsible forToronto Life and torontoist.com’s platforms.

Leaving the company as a result of the changes will be Debra Rother, longtime associate publisher advertising for the women’s group, and Lindsay Wells, associate publisher for Toronto Life.

Here's a brand new writing competition well worth noting: The first Talking Back Awards from Shameless magazine is for teen girls or trans youth 13 - 19 years old and is open to anyone in the world. Entries can be made in poetry, short fiction and creative non-fiction. Maximum 2,000 words. Deadline for entries, Monday, September 7 2015 at midnight. It costs $15 to enter and with that comes a free one-year subscription. The entries will be judged by poet and short story writer Souvankham Thammavongsa, writer Anupa Mistry, who specializes in arts, culture and community, and Emily Pohl-Weary, an award-winning novelist, editor and arts educator from Toronto. There will be first and second place winners in each category. First place winners will be published in a 2016 issue ofShameless, and on the Shameless blog and receive an honorarium of$200 CAD. Second place winners will be published in a 2016 issue ofShameless, and receive an honorarium of$100 CAD. Plus all six winners will be invited to do a special reading at the Shamies Gala, an annual celebration of Shameless and the youth voices in the magazine. The event will take place on October 16th at OCAD University in Toronto. For those not familiar with it, Shameless is an independent, volunteer-run magazine based in Toronto and aimed at being the alternative to typical teen magazines. Its goal is to inspire, inform and advocate for young women and trans youth.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

The Kit, Torstar's beauty and fashion site, has step by step been building up a formidable array of print, tablet and online ways to reach readers, to become what it calls "Canada's 360-degree beauty and style leader". First (even before the Star bought it) it was a digital beauty magazine. Then it upgraded its website as a central hub, spread into fashion, created a new interactive app for tablets and smartphones and launched a weekly paper feature that is distributed in select copies of the Toronto Star and in papers in Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver as well as a French, south Asian and Chinese versions. Now it has launched a week pop-up magazine called The Kit Compact, distributed free in Toronto and on thekit.ca. All of which is available with The Star's weekly tablet edition that is distributed every Thursday. The pop-up is described this way:

"Smart, cool, a little cheeky, a lot thoughtful, The Kit Compact is plugged into what’s new in fashion, beauty, celebrity and pop culture. It encourages readers to share its content via aspirational photo shoots, cutting-edge trend features and highly curated city-specific shopping lists."

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

“We look forward to continuing the 45-year history and tradition associated with the Bodyshop brand, including the Annual Directory, Cross Canada Annual Survey, Bodyshop of the Year, and Restyler of the Year Awards,” says Darryl Simmons, president of Media Matters and publisher of Collision Repair magazine. “Bodyshop magazine is a well-recognized brand that has stood the test of time in our constantly-transforming industry."

"I think there is an interesting tendency among some consumers who are looking for content but don’t seem to care what the source of the story is. I grew up in this industry with a keen awareness that the voice and authority of the brand was important, something that you developed and shaped, and it was part of what readers were attracted to and loyal to. It was like creating a house that the reader wanted to inhabit. But now readers can choose this living room and that kitchen and another back yard, all from different brands. So, are we seeing a new kind of reader? Or are readers changing the way they behave? And how does that affect how we create our content?"

-- Carole Beaulieu, editor-in-chief and publisher of L’actualité, Canada’s leading French-language current affairs magazine. She was quoted in a Q & A with Magazines Canada as part of its promotion for the FIPP World Congress, coming up in October.

"Media has changed so much in the past 10 years that to say that you can’t ever imagine a certain scenario is crazy, because anything is possible. And the way people consume media now is so different than it was 10 years ago and ten years from now it’ll be so different than it is today. But looking at the realities of the business now, I can’t imagine the print product going away in the next 10 years, because frankly too many people want it and it makes too much money."

-- Jess Cagle, editorial director of People Magazine, responding to a question from Mr. Magazine about whether he could imagine a day when the magazine wouldn't have a print component.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Something worth noticing, though it's hard to know what its long-term impact will be on, just for instance, the magazine and web publishing business. According to a post on the Google blog it is becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of a new company called Alphabet, created by Larry Page​ and Sergey Brin​. All Google Inc. shares will convert into Alphabet shares. ﻿And Sundar Pichai​ becomes CEO of Google. Alphabet will apparently replace Google Inc as the publicly traded entity and will house many of the company's new launches and developments:

"This newer Google is a bit slimmed down, with the companies that are pretty far afield of our main Internet products contained in Alphabet instead," said Larry Page. "What do we mean by far afield? Good examples are our health efforts: Life Sciences (that works on the glucose-sensing contact lens), and Calico (focused on longevity). Fundamentally, we believe this allows us more management scale, as we can run things independently that aren’t very related. Alphabet is about businesses prospering through strong leaders and independence. In general, our model is to have a strong CEO who runs each business, with Sergey and me in service to them as needed."

Friday, August 07, 2015

Audited data shows that the total circulation of U.S. magazines fell 2.2% in the first half of 2015, compared with the same period a year earlier. According to a report in MediaDailyNews, based on figures compiled by Alliance for Audited Media, celebrity titles fell, largely driven by a decline in newsstand sales. In Touch Weekly slid 8.5% in total circulation, Life & Style was down 5.4% and OK Weekly 5.4%. People magazine's total circ was down 1.2%.

More magazine fell 41% in total circ, Woman's World 11.1% and First for Women 7.9%.

Tuesday, August 04, 2015

As part of its fundraising for its Music in the Classroom program, Musicworks magazine is offering for sale a series of 11 original, hand-drawn and hand-painted visual poems created exclusively for offshoot Musicworks Editions by the internationally renowned sound poet Jaap Blonk. The sale of Secret Recipes ($200 per image*) directly supports Musicworks In The Classroom. Funded exclusively by donors, the classroom program distribute more than 3,000 copies of Musicworks to undergraduate music and media-arts students every year. Blonk explains:

"The Secret Recipes series started with some kitchen experiments: the combination of one liquid and one solid / powder ingredient, such as buttermilk and turmeric, beetroot juice and icing sugar or carrot juice and mustard seed. Due to the relative incompatibility of tastes the recipes weren’t very successful, and I decided to keep them secret. Directions are written; however, they are in a script that has such a distant relation to phonetic notation that it has become indecipherable."

We have some examples of web-only publications opting to augment themselves with print magazines or annuals. Now, a successful print magazine, Motor Trend, is turning its success with a YouTube channel into a new quarterly print magazine called Roadkill, based on one of its most popular video series. The videos claim more than 3.3 million subscribers and 880 million page views.

As reported on Tubefilter, the magazine will show off everything from classic hot rods to broken down jalopies to top-of-the-line luxury cars. Scott Dickey of Motor Trend described Roadkill as “guys behaving badly with cars.” Commenters on Roadkill’s YouTube videos have alternatively termed it “Top Gear America done right.”

"The Roadkill magazine [which launches in September] will share the web series’ young, fresh attitude, and the hope is that Millennial consumers will be willing to pay $9.99 per issue to pick it up. “We don’t think print is a dying business,” Dickey told WSJ. “We do make a bunch of money in print. And with millennials, they’re not opposed to print. They just didn’t grow up with it.” "